


Small Things Appreciated

by MeanderingWits



Series: Amechu Drabbles [1]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Anniversary, M/M, slightly angsty, slightly fluffy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-19
Updated: 2017-05-19
Packaged: 2018-11-02 10:14:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 995
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10942398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MeanderingWits/pseuds/MeanderingWits
Summary: Someone's late to their anniversary. You can't blame Yao for worrying.Filled for the "Celebration" theme for AmeChuPrompts!





	Small Things Appreciated

**Author's Note:**

> The very first of my drabbles complete! This one's slightly angsty considering the theme, but it is what it is. I need to make my mental image of Yao happier, I think.
> 
> I have a second one in the works that is a bit happier that I hope to complete by Saturday. 
> 
> Also, I want to give a shout-out to Kei and Izzy for putting this event together. Thanks, you guys!
> 
> \- Kat

When Alfred finally arrived on his doorstep, Yao had been worried. Stupidly worried, if he were honest with himself, but genuinely worried.  
  
The most glaring sign that something was wrong was Alfred's increasingly shorter phone calls over the past couple of months.  
  
The second most glaring sign was the correlating increase in cat videos on his Twitter feed.  
  
Not that their phone calls had ever been...free? No. Open? That wasn't it quite either. They always knew they had to be careful when talking to each other over the phone or through texts. They were part and parcel of their respective peoples, so of course their governments wanted to keep an eye on them. And while the people at his place always had a tendency to be nosy, Alfred's government was getting more and more...careful, as it were.  
  
So gone were the excited talks about bird flu research, about solar panels, about the rice and the red sorghum and the sunflowers growing in fertile soil, about going fishing with Canada over a long weekend, about him and Australia building a beer cannon and shooting clay birds with it in England's backyard, about making some horrendous dish to drive France mad and discovering it actually tasted quite good...  
  
Nowadays it was mostly a quick hello, how are you, I've got to go because Representative So-and-So from Whatever-Unpronounceable-Area-at-Alfred's-Place needed to see him, so on and so on.  
  
This was usually followed by a picture of America's incredibly fluffy and incredibly fat cat, Indy ("Short for 'Independence!' "), doing something silly. Amazon.com boxes tended to feature quite a bit in these. Yao would return the favor by showing his own Linqing curled up in a tea kettle or a bamboo steamer.  
  
As loathe as he was to admit it, he did miss the cheerful chatter. "You're already in tomorrow," Alfred would sometimes say, "but I'm not there yet! So I can still change things and get a smile out of you, old man."  
  
Even Yao's phone monitors had noticed. Chang Jinhua at the communications bureau had tricked him into a long talk about relationships needing work and how a person could keep their lover interested in them after a long period of time. Yao was 30 minutes in before he realized she was talking about _his_ man problems this time, not how Zhang Wei the Traffic Cop was flirting with girls on mopeds behind her back.  
  
Which was why Yao found himself pacing the foyer of his apartment. Alfred was late.  
  
Sure, Alfred was never the most...punctual of nations. If he wasn't jumping in too early, he was then jumping later than everyone else. But today was their anniversary. On this day, years ago, after so many awkward talks and covert gazes and heated liaisons, they looked at each other and said, "Let's be together."  
  
Alfred was never late when it was his turn to go to Yao's place for their anniversary.  
  
Maybe his boss changed stopped him? But didn't Yao's boss and Alfred's boss get along now? Maybe one of the other advisors did something? Maybe there was another scandal? Maybe he was dragged off the airplane by rude airplane authorities?!  
  
Honestly, as his boss told him a thousand times, it would've been a lot easier if they were seeing other people. He wasn't blind to how he was left alone with Indonesia, with India, with Turkey, and of course, with Russia. Yao often refused on principle: he known everyone around him too long, mostly as either a big brother or a cultural and political lodestar. That's why Alfred was so lovely. He was so new -- an ocean away but shining bright and gold. And he'd always loved gold. And how could he ignore how Alfred's bosses so obviously tried to build closer relations between Alfred and the others. England and Japan, of course. _Always_ , of course. Alfred's last boss was quite enamored with the idea of Alfred with Germany...  
  
Alfred clearly had trouble with the steps of this dance. You needed to shift at just the right beat, in just the right way, to avoid getting torn apart by personal feeling and political influence.  
  
It wasn't black and white, never had been.  
  
It wasn't easy. Especially for a young man and an old man both far too used to being the center of the universe, even if it was only in their minds.  
  
But Alfred should've been here by now. Maybe he _was_ pulled off a plane...!  
  
Then the doorbell rang. Yao opened it like a shot.  
  
And there Alfred was, standing backlit by the streetlight, looking almost angelic as the air ruffled his hair. His fashion sense, thankfully, was terrible (jeans, a t-shirt, a jacket) so that brought things a little bit back to earth.  
  
So did the garish basket of flowers and fruit he carried in one hand.  
  
"Sorry, I'm a bit late. Getting out of the usual de-briefing at the embassy was a little tougher this time around." Alfred shifted stiffly from leg to leg, as if he had been still for far too long before dashing off without the proper stretching to restore normal circulation. (Yao warned him about this. Listen to the voice of experience for a change!) "You'll find this funny, but...it's still all up in the air. I don't think they know quite what they're doing just yet. It's pretty weird!"  
  
He looked...tired. Like he hadn't had any sleep few days. But though his smile was a little brittle, it was still bright and here and for him and him alone. That's what mattered.  
  
This was their time now.  
  
...Besides, Yao could remedy those aches and pains himself. At least, for a little while. And no one said they couldn't celebrate quietly.  
  
Or in bed.  
  
Alfred didn't resist as Yao pulled him into his home. In fact, as Yao altered between scolding him and fussing over him, Alfred's smile grew smaller, but infinitely more contented.  
  



End file.
